Firstly I believe, as I imagine is the position of all councillors, the announced changes to the commonwealth fee contribution – which effectively drives up the cost of going to university by more than double in some cases – as a despicable act by this current government. It is, therefore, our responsibility as student representatives to fight these changes. Of course, this fight should be lead by the EVP and the UTSSA Education Action Group, which I encourage everyone to join and bolster. I am keen to see what strategy we adopt in the future on this matter.
Secondly, the National Welfare Officer of the NUS and our own Welfare Collective are currently generating support for the ‘Raise the Rate’ campaign. An incredibly important campaign for many battlers at UTS. I have worked with the Welfare Collective in formulating a motion, which I will move at this meeting. I further encourage councillors to get involved in the welfare collective to further that campaign at UTS. The more united we are on this front, the more we can achieve.
Lastly, as always, I wish the council well for the upcoming semester.
